BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Warner Home Video
MSRP: $19.98
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 205 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• NBA TV analysis of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game
• Counting down Kobe Bryant’s 81 points
• NBA TV analysis of Kobe Bryant’s 62-point game
• NBA TV analysis of Tracy McGrady’s finish vs. Spurs
• Bernard King vs. Isiah Thomas playoff duel
• Larry Bird vs. Dominique Wilkins classic playoff duel
• Isiah Thomas’ game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals
The Pitch
A shload of NBA scoring.
The Humans
Kobe, T-Mac, Magic, Isiah, Bird, LeBron, Dominique, Bernard King, Vinsanity, the Answer, Horry, etc.
"Like this, MJ?"
The Nutshell
Uh, it’s a bunch of random footage about a lot of scoring and clutch plays. Stuff you’ve seen before and will probably see again and again and again.
The Lowdown
Hey, I’m all for seeing footage of incredible players making incredible plays. The wife and I were actually watching Kobe drop 81 on the Raptors live and digging every minute of it. I’ve watched every NBA Finals since ’97, so I’ve seen everything from the Bad Boys to Miami spotting the Mavs a couple of games then seeing Flash feast on them like they were White Castles. Seen the ’91 Jordan “spectacular move” against the Lakers, the 35 in the first half and the shoulder shrug against the Blazers in ’92, and the sick run of the ’95 Rockets, the gutsiest team I’ve ever watched. The whole town (LA) was giving the rest of the NBA the finger four three wonderful years in ’00 – ’02 when we had the best player in the world and the most unstoppable…you know whom I mean. Point is, I’ve seen all this shit. It’s great shit, but it’s still the same ole’ shit.
"Yo Reggie, what up?!"
"I-I’m not feeling very well."
"I know, man, you were just sick that game!"
"No I mean I feel like I’m going to throw up."
"Yeah, dog you kept throwin’ that shit up and it kept going down!"
"No, do you understand me? I think I’m physically in distress."
"Yeah and tonight dat bitch over there’s gonna be physically out dis dress, you know what I’m sayin’?"
"Leave me alone please…"
Okay, let me backtrack a sec here. Basically the point of this disc is to show great players being great and analyze said greatness. This is the chapter breakdown: Vinsanity, The Answer, which pretty much deal with some of the best performances of those two hellacious players; Big Time, which was various Finals including the ’01 and ’05, and Big Shot Rob gives some much deserved props to Robert Horry, especially his stupid game winning shot against the Kings in the ’02 Western Conference Finals. Then Heating Up deals with some of the new superstars like Flash, LeBron, Carmelo, etc., while Unconscious deals with being “in the zone.” Two Alarm Fire centers on Nowitzki and T-Mac and a scoring duel they had once. Historically Hot just rehashes great scorers like Cousy, West, and especially Magic, Bird, His Airness, and Reggie Miller, which is good ‘cause those guys never really got the recognition they deserved…
"Hey coach, do the Lakers know we’ve got three of their trophies?"
Finally, Kobe gets his own chapter called, well, Kobe Bryant that ends with his 81-point performance last year. So if you look at the footage they have here, it’s top notch stuff, from historic to very recent. If you look at the organization of this material though, you’re left thinking: not bad for a loosely themed, comletely random and haphazard collection of baskets. There’s nothing wrong with what they have here, but I just look at it and it’s all stuff I have seen / can see / probably will see on Sportscenter. So what’s the point?
Unfotunately, no one told Vince that he shouldn’t play with the actual NBA trophy…
The Package
Cover art is generic shots of the game’s best doing their thing. Fine. The audio and video range from grainy ‘50s footage of Cousy to Kobe shellacking the Raptors a few months ago. The special features are admittedly pretty good. They cover a lot of stuff, although it’s just as random as the main presentation. There’s the 27-minute NBA TV Analysis of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game, which pretty much does what it says, the 3-minute Counting down Kobe Bryant’s 81 points, where you see every shot in rapid fire progression, then an 8-minute NBA TV analysis of Kobe Bryant’s 62-point game, 7-minute NBA TV analysis of Tracy McGrady’s finish vs. Spurs, the Bernard King vs. Isiah Thomas playoff duel, Larry Bird vs. Dominique Wilkins classic playoff duel, and Isiah Thomas’ game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals. The Kobe stuff is cool, unless of course you hate him, but most of the other stuff is rehashed rehash. Again, it’s all good stuff, but again I say, been there, done that.
"Uh Jason, is there something you want to tell me?"